A big runner's chronicles given to encourage and inform other new runners and discuss various topics related to training, racing, Houston area running, the Houston Striders Running Club, HARRA (Houston Area Road Runners Association), and other health related issues.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Continue to improve

I was unable to run yesterday as scheduled. Well, "unable" may not be the best choice of words. I slept in due to rain. I'm not as brave (I guess that's the word) as Cassie was as she braved the elements in ankle deep waters at Memorial yesterday. Then this morning, my hopes of a pre-dawn run were again dashed as I woke to thunderstorms pounding on Northwest Houston. Oh well, going back to sleep didn't bother me at all.

The weather cleared as morning came. I had to make a trip to town to pick up my son from an all-nighter church function so thankfully, it was a perfect opportunity to run before I picked him up. It had just stopped raining and the runners were just starting to get to the park. It looked like some had already done a lap or 2 in the rain before I got there.

Well, I need to keep this post from getting too long so on to the report. I did 25 minutes continuous running, a comeback PR for longest continuous run. According to my calculations (sort of estimates since I could only calculate my pace at .25 intervals), I completed 1.68 miles in the 25 minutes. I walked the remaining balance of the 2 mile trek. Avg pace over the entire 2 miles was 16:13, including a 7:25 walk. Avg pace for the 1.68 mile run was 14:53. WHAT!!! That's awesome (for me!!!). Again, I'm not concerned with pace right now other than for purposes of information.

For the week, that's 5.0 miles total, up from 4.5 last week. That's a nice, conservative increase. Of course, all of my miles to date have included walking miles as all but a few workouts have been run/walk intervals. According to the program I'm following, all my runs next week are continuous, 25 minute runs. It's getting serious now. I've really got to listen to my body and take care to continue to avoid injury. This is my #1 goal.